Smash Martians

The Smash Martians were the stars of a series of 1970s and early 1980s TVadvertising campaigns for Smash instant mashed potato in the UK. They were a family of Martianrobots who would watch humans laboriously preparing mashed potato the traditional way on TV. The robots would then mock what they saw by chortling as they heard how the "Earth people peeled their own potatoes with their metal knives, boiled them for twenty of their minutes, then smashed them all to bits" – instead of using Smash instant mash. The catchphrase 'For Mash Get Smash' is still an iconic advertising slogan in the UK. The adverts featuring the Smash Martians were voted TV ad of the century by Campaign Magazine.

The Martians' behaviour and personalities were initially developed while the puppeteers were messing around on set.[1]